Government responds to media report
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The Hong Kong Dragon Boat Carnival, organised by the Hong Kong Tourism Board with the Hong Kong China Dragon Boat Association as a co-organiser, is being staged at the Central Harbourfront for the third consecutive year from June 22 to 24, 2018. The event organiser provides around 700 seats at the Central Harbourfront Event Space for spectators to watch the dragon boat races. Members of the public may also watch the races from the Central and Western District Promenade (Central Section) and Tamar Park.
Regarding the CMD, it has been the plan of the Government to hand it over to the Garrison upon completion of the construction works and other relevant procedures. The construction of the CMD has already been completed earlier on. However, in 2014 Designing Hong Kong Limited applied for a judicial review against the Town Planning Board's statutory planning procedures for re-zoning the CMD site to "Other Specified Uses" annotated "Military Use (1)", and sought a Protective Costs Order for the relevant legal proceedings. As a result, the concerned statutory planning procedures have since been put on hold. Until now, the Government has yet been able to take forward the follow-up actions required for handing the CMD over to the Garrison. The Government expresses its regret that the persons and organisations concerned have ignored the background and actual circumstances of the CMD and made unfounded criticisms.
In May 2018, the Court of Final Appeal dismissed Designing Hong Kong Limited's appeal and re-instated the judgment of the Court of First Instance on dismissing the Protective Costs Order application of the company. The Government will continue to closely monitor the development of the relevant judicial review and complete the required procedures and work as soon as practicable.
The CMD is one of the military buildings and fixed facilities required to be reprovisioned for the Garrison according to the 1994 Exchange of Notes between the Government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and the Government of the People's Republic of China on the Arrangements for the Future Use of the Military Sites in Hong Kong (the Defence Land Agreement). The Government has explained the situation to the Legislative Council and the general public on different occasions. As the CMD is a military facility, it is not appropriate to open it up for public use before it is handed over to the Garrison.
Ends/Friday, June 22, 2018
Issued at HKT 17:55
Issued at HKT 17:55
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